The Weight of Regret
by Hazeljv
Summary: Sasuke thought he had severed all ties to the Leaf Village. He thought he could not care less about his old team. He was wrong. SasuSaku one-shot.


**Just a little drabble I threw together after seeing a fan-art. I hope you guys like it (although it's definitely not my best work). It was hard to try to bring emotion to someone as brooding and stoic as Sasuke, and I hope I did a semi-good job of it.**

**I'd really appreciate any feedback you guys have. :)**

**Summary: Sasuke thought he had severed all ties to the Leaf Village. He thought he had left his friends behind, that he no longer needed nor cared for them. He thought he could not care less about his old team. He was wrong.**

The Weight of Regret

I stood in front of her grave, staring at the words carved into the stone. Just staring. What more could I do? Nothing could bring her back to me. No matter how much I wished there was a way.

How could this have happened? How could I have _let _this happen?

I should have protected her. I should have stayed. I should have done something. _Anything._

I felt the words etching themselves into my mind, preparing to haunt me until I followed her to the grave. I didn't want to remember them. I didn't want to _look_ at them, and yet I couldn't tear my eyes away from the headstone.

_Haruno Sakura_

_A beloved daughter, _

_a cherished teammate_

_and a brilliant medic._

Cherished teammate. I could have snorted at the words. For the short time I was on a team with her, I hardly cared for her at all, shoving down any and all feelings of friendship... of _love_... for the pink haired girl.

And now she was gone. Killed by the Akatsuki member, Sasori, on a mission to save that damn Suna ninja, Gaara. And every feeling I had repressed was filling my mind, tormenting my consciousness.

Would she have been killed if I hadn't left, almost three years previous? Maybe she would still be alive.

Maybe she wouldn't have died _hating me_.

After all, that is how she died, right? How could she still love me after all I had done to her? To our team? To our friends?

I can't imagine she saw me as anything more than something ugly, shameful... _evil_. Yes, that sounded about right.

It was getting lighter, dawn waning to morning before my eyes, but I couldn't look away from the grave. I didn't care about being caught in the village where I was no longer welcome. My grief was too great, my regret too strong. It all rooted me to the ground.

I think that in the back of my mind, I had always known she was the one I wanted to marry, the one I wanted to help me rebuild my clan. I was a real idiot. Instead of making moves to rebuild my clan, to make something good, I had gone off to gain power I no longer wanted, to kill the only other remaining member of my clan. I had been so overcome by the idea of revenge, that I had turned everything good in my life into shit.

"S-Sakura..." I hadn't realized I was crying until I spoke, my voice thick with tears. I had almost forgotten the feeling of crying, it almost felt good, if not for the terrible pain that seemed to be shredding my heart in my chest. How ironic, I bet most people thought I didn't even have a heart anymore. Sakura included.

I knelt in front of the grave, placing a bunch of cherry blossoms on the ground and continued to stare at the words.

"I messed up, didn't I?" I sighed. "You were the best thing that could have happened to me, but I didn't even realize it until it was too late." I shook my head. "I'm a fool."

I could practically see Sakura's face at that moment, her gentle jade eyes, the soft curve of her jaw, and her ridiculous rose coloured hair. She was smiling, as I saw her, that sweet, carefree smile she used to give me when we were young. There were also tears in her eyes, happy tears, it appeared. My chest tightened painfully.

I couldn't stay there any longer, I had to leave. It was too much.

To stand over her cold body, buried six feet under the ground.

To know that I would never see her face again, her smile.

To know I could never again take in the delicate scent of her hair.

To know I wound never be able to touch her cheek, kiss her lips, embrace her. Hell, I'd settle for holding her hand.

Damn it. _Damn it all to hell_. Why was I such an idiot? I just wished I could have seen her one more time before she died. To tell her that I loved her, that leaving her would always be my biggest regret.

I stood, my legs oddly unsteady. I wiped the tears from my face and took one last look at her grave, feeling the weight of regret settle onto my back. It would stay with me for the rest of my life.

_'How can a simple emotion be so heavy?' _I thought, sighing. And with that, I left.

But this was not a final goodbye. I would be back, more times than I could count. And eventually, I would join her, and I would be able to tell her everything. But not nearly soon enough.

**Just in case it's a bit confusing, this is written as if Sakura had died in her fight between Sasori at the beginning of Shippuden, meaning she and Sasuke have not seen each other in almost three years (they don't see each other before that in Shippuden, right?).**

**And there is no date on the grave because I have no idea what time period Naruto is set in (I don't think it is even mentioned). Just so you know.**

**So yeah. Please review, if you wouldn't mind. Reviews make the Anti-Writer's-Block fairy happy. ^_^**


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